Are the Benefits of Fruit Too Sweet to Be True?

We’ve all heard too much sugar is bad for us. We’ve also probably heard fruit is generally a healthy choice. But fruit can contain a serious amount of sugar (four apples are roughly equivalent to 24 ounces of soda), so how do we make sense of this seemingly conflicting information? According to the New York Times, the answer is that, when we eat fruit, we get more than just sugar. Specifically, we get fiber, which helps sugar enter the bloodstream more slowly. This, in turn, puts less stress on the pancreas. Taxing the pancreas as a result of spiking blood sugar levels can lead to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. And it’s not just the fiber in fruit that counts, it's the type of fiber and how it's delivered. The sugar in whole fruit is bound up with fiber in a way that helps further prevent its rapid absorption into the body. The upshot is that while whole fruit does contain sugar, it’s still a healthy choice, and definitely preferable to processed foods.